


Doing Even More

by PattRose



Series: Anything Series [3]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Family Fluff, M/M, day in the life, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:18:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7262107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What’s happening with the New Life Center, the homeless shelter and everyone’s lives?  Find out what is new and what has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doing Even More

Doing Even More  
By PattRose  
Summary: What’s happening with the New Life Center, the homeless shelter and everyone’s lives? Find out what is new and what has changed.  
Warnings: Busy  
Rating: Teen  
Genre: Slash  
Word Count: 4696

[ ](http://s71.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/doingevenmore_zpsfk7vbg50.jpg.html)

The grand opening of the new homeless shelter was in two hours and Blair felt like something was missing. He was in charge of seeing that everything went accordingly and usually he could do a very good job, but tonight his mind was on all sorts of things, not just the homeless shelter. Jim seemed a little side tracked for about a week and didn’t want to make love at all. He said he had things on his mind, so Blair hadn’t pushed him. But for goodness sake, it had been a week now.

Milly, the manager of the shelter walked up to Blair and said, “Come and see the mosaic they put on the front of the building. It’s absolutely stunning. The blues and the greens set each other off just perfectly. Hurry up, slow poke.”

Blair smiled and followed her out to see the mosaic wall. Jim was standing in front of it and then Milly said, “Get next to Jim. I want a picture.”

Blair stood next to Jim and could tell something was on his mind. So when Milly snapped the picture, they both looked like grumps. It was an instamatic and she pulled it out immediately, shaking it until the picture became clear. “Jim and Blair, what is wrong with you two? You look like big old grumps in this picture.”

Blair grabbed it and said, “We’ll take one on another day, Milly. We’ve got too many things on our mind right now.” Blair did notice how nice the mosaic looked behind them and smiled at last. “Let’s get back to work, Milly.”

Blair walked away without saying a word to Jim. Blair knew he was going to talk to Jim that night if it killed both of them. 

Once he was back inside, he started getting everything set up. The food was catered, so that was done. The rooms were all perfect and ready for the grand opening. What was Blair missing? 

Milly walked up and said, “Blair, the catering company just delivered the drinks for tonight and it’s alcohol. We don’t allow it on the premises. What are we going to do?” She was having her first of probably many panic attacks for the night. 

“Let me go and get Jim. He’ll know exactly what to do,” Blair answered. He walked out the front door and Jim was staring at the mosaic and smiling. _Well, I’m glad one of us is happy._

“Jim, they delivered the drinks for this evening and it’s all alcohol. What are we going to do?”

“I thought you took care of this, Blair,” Jim barked as he started to head into the building. 

“I told them there would be no alcohol and yet that’s what we have.”

Jim walked up to the head caterer and growled, “You made a huge mistake and we need it taken care of in the next hour.”

“We made no mistakes, Mr. Ellison. Everything is just as it was ordered.”

“This is a no alcohol building, what do you plan on doing about it?” Jim shouted. 

“Oh my God, what are we going to do with all that wine and hard liquor? I had no clue this was an alcohol free building. Someone should have told us.”

“Could you let me see the order that was placed, please?” Jim asked. 

“Why certainly.” She got the order and handed it to Jim and said, “See?”

Jim read through it quickly and growled, “It’s your mistake. It says no alcohol on the premises. Blair Sandburg put it in the order correctly. Now, take care of it, immediately. Punch would be a good drink I think.”

Sarah, the woman in charge looked horrified. “I can’t throw together something like this with no warning.”

Blair sighed and said, “Don’t worry about it, get the alcohol out of here and I’ll do the punch. It’s not a problem for me to do it at last minutes notice.” Blair stormed off knowing he was going to have to shop and shop fast for this to work. 

Jim caught up with him and said, “I’ll see to it that all the alcohol is out of here. You’re doing a great job, Blair.”

“Thanks, man, but now I have to put together punch for 150 people in an hour. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Why not take Megan with you, she’s been looking for something to do?”

“Oh thank God. This is a two person job, believe me.”

Megan and Blair left and Jim made sure all alcohol was gone. They did bring out glasses for punch though, which helped Jim out a lot. He called and told Blair not to worry about the glasses for the punch. Now if he could just get the caterers on their game he would have it made.

*

Blair and Megan got back and started unloading the punch supplies. They both decided on Sprite with a gallon of orange sherbet. Both of them knew this to be delicious. They also got raspberry, lime and lemon sherbet. They got everything into the freezers and the refrigerators and went to find Jim.

“Wow, you’re back. What are you going to make the punch in?” Jim asked. 

“Oh fuck! Megan, we forgot to get those punch bowls.”

Megan smiled and rubbed his back. “Calm down, we got them. I unloaded them. We have ten of them. That’s more than enough. Jimbo, don’t freak him out like that.”

“Sorry, Chief. Do you think we should start putting the punch out now? People are starting to walk in already?”

“Help us, Jim. It’ll give you something to take your mind off everything else.”

When each of them carried out a punch bowl with a ladle, there were about 40 people already. They decided they needed more punch set out already. They had a punch table set up with ten punch bowls when they were done. 

Jim watched people and the punch was going fast. As more people came in, the punch bowls were getting lower. Then Jim saw Blair and Megan take the punch bowls away and refill them. _Thank God, someone is on top of things. It’s sure not me._

Appetizers were put out and the caterers also carried them around on trays to offer them to people that were there. 

William Ellison walked over to Jim with his best friend, Clyde. “Jim, you remember Clyde. He and I would like to make a donation tonight. Who do we give it to?” 

Jim almost burst with happiness that his dad and his dad’s best friend were helping the cause. “Marsha is the one that runs this place. She’s the woman in the red dress over by the punch. She’ll be glad to take your money.”

“See you later Jim,” William said. Clyde waved as they walked off. 

People were going on tours of the shelter to see all the rooms and the restrooms and everything else. Jim was so proud of what they all had done to make this day come true. 

Megan walked over arm in arm with Lucas Edson, the supervisor from the contracting firm that worked on The New Life Center. Jim was surprised to see him. 

They shook hands and Lucas said, “Megan was kind enough to invite me to this affair. I already gave a donation to Marsha. It’s a really nice building. I bet the homeless are excited for you to open the doors.”

“As a matter of fact, the catering company is catering food to the old homeless shelter tonight. So they are having a celebration also. The doors open tomorrow morning. The clean-up is going to be brutal,” Jim pointed out. 

“Megan and I will stay and help, won’t we Megan?” he asked. 

“Jimbo, you know I would be here anyhow, but at least this time I brought help,” Megan said, laughing. 

“Thank you both. The affair ends at 10:00, so only two hours to go,” Jim said, sarcastically. 

Blair walked over and said, “Jim we need to talk to some of these people. We need more donations.”

“Yes, boss,” Jim teased. They walked off and talked to anyone and everyone. 

Finally at 9:45, everyone had left. Jim locked the doors and asked, “Who wants to help clean this place?” 

Rafe, Simon, Joel, Henri and three other police officers from the station held up their hands. 

Jim put everyone in charge of something different and before long, the place looked like new again. 

Blair walked up to Jim, sliding his arms around Jim’s waist and smiled. “It was perfect tonight. Marsha said they got more donations then they ever expected. And by the way, your dad and his best friend are in the kitchen cleaning.”

Jim hugged him and whispered into his ear, “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bear. I just had too much going on. I was so nervous about tonight, but now I feel like a weight has been lifted. I promise to make it up to you when we get home.”

Blair wiggled his eyebrows up and down and made Jim laugh. 

Everyone said goodbye to each other at about 1:00 a.m. and walked to their cars. Jim and Blair hugged Marsha who said she was staying there that night, and then they left for the evening. Jim knew that Marsha was very excited about opening the doors at 8:00 that morning. She was born for this job. 

The ride home was very quiet, both men were exhausted. Blair finally said, “Could we have a rain check for makeup sex?”

Jim snickered and said, “I couldn’t agree more. Tomorrow is looking better and better.”

*

Lucas the contractor and Megan were driving home and Lucas asked, “How would you like to move into my house with me?”

“Do you think we’re moving too fast? It’s only been two months. I just don’t want to make any mistakes and ruin anything,” Megan said. 

Lucas smiled as her. “It’s your choice. I’m in no rush. I can wait however long.”

“Would you mind if I called my Life Coach really fast?” Megan asked, laughing. 

“Sure, talk to Blair. He’ll know what to do.”

She dialed his number and he was still on his way home. “Hey, Lucas asked me to move in with him. I want to know if this is a good move for me.”

“Megan, you’re the best judge of that. If it feels right do it. I really like Lucas. He seems like a great guy. Oh what the hell, go for it, girlfriend.”

“Thank you, Sandy. See you tomorrow.”

Megan turned to Lucas and said, “Yes, I would love to move in with you. I love your house. Tons of room. My apartment was so small this will be a nice change of pace.”

“Maybe Jim and Blair would help us move,” Lucas guessed. 

“If I call them Jim and Blair for the day they probably would,” she joked, laughing her head off. “I’ll ask them tomorrow.”

They continued talking about the move all the way to Lucas’s house.

*

Henri got ready for bed and walked into their room and said, “Every time I come into this room, it amazes me. It doesn’t look like an apartment above a crisis center does it?”

Hannah smiled back at him and said, “This is the nicest place I’ve ever lived. I love having the spare rooms and the rest of the apartment is huge. I never expected it to be so large, did you?”

“No, I love it here. And having a back yard is super nice for when we have children,” Henri stated. 

“You wouldn’t mind having a child?” 

“Of course not, I love children. And so do Jim and Blair. They would love to be the awesome uncles,” Henri added. 

“In that case I guess I should tell you that that night the condom broke, we didn’t get lucky. I’m pregnant,” Hannah said softly and fearfully. 

She needed have worried. Henri grabbed her and hugged her close to him. “This is the best news I’ve ever heard. But how will your family take you marrying me and having a child with me? I know they aren’t crazy about you being with a black man.”

“Henri, you would marry me?” 

“Would you marry me, Hannah? We can get the ring later. What do you say?”

“I say, yes. I love you so much Henri and if my family doesn’t like my choices, then they won’t be in our child’s life. So stop worrying already. They’ll come around. How do you think your mom is going to take this news?”

“She worries about people giving us a hard time, but honestly, I don’t see her being anything but happy about a new grandchild. Should we tell them in the morning? Or make them wait?” 

Hannah hugged Henri once again and smiled. “We’ll tell them in two weeks when I have a ring on my finger.”

“Two weeks it is. We’ll go shopping for the rings tomorrow,” Henri said happily. 

“I can’t wait to tell Blair. He’s going to be thrilled. Do you mind if I call Joel and Mary? I really want to tell someone.”

“Nope, you’re waiting until tomorrow. You can tell Mary when you work with her and I’ll tell Joel and the rest of the gang tomorrow. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.”

“Goodnight, Hannah. I love you too.”

*

First thing in the morning, Henri called Joel and told him two pieces of good news. Of course Joel was thrilled. Little did the men know that Hannah was calling Mary at the very same time. It was good for both sets of friends to have each other to share things with. Now, Henri could hardly wait to tell everyone in the bullpen.

*

Blair was sleeping in for a change when his cell went off. He answered in case it was Jim. “Sandburg.”

“Hi, Blair. This is Hannah. I have some good news to share with you. Henri asked me to marry him and it’ll be sooner than later because I’m pregnant. I couldn’t wait to tell you.”

“Oh, Hannah, this is wonderful news. First thing we’ll do is put a toddler play gym in the back yard. This is the best news I’ve heard in years. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“I knew you were off today and sure didn’t want you to find out from Jim when he got home from work. I wanted to tell you. It still seems like a dream, you know?”

“How are things going at The New Life Center?” Blair asked. 

“We are full. I had to turn people away this week and I wasn’t happy about that. I told them about another shelter but it’s just not as good as this one. We stay very, very busy. The state comes in once a month and checks on us, so they won’t let us fall down on the job.”

“This is great news, Hannah. Well, except for having to turn people away. We knew we picked the right people for the job.”

“Blair, call Mary, she has some news too.”

“Okay. I’ll call now. You have my attention,” Blair teased. 

“Goodbye, sweetie.”

Goodbye, Hannah.”

Blair went down to the bathroom first and finished up morning business and then sat at the kitchen table to call Mary. They were too old to have a child, so Blair knew it wasn’t that. Blair punched in her numbers and listened to it ring until Mary answered. 

“Mary Taggert, may I help you?”

“Hi Mary, it’s Blair. What is your big news?”

“Hannah cannot keep a secret at all,” she said laughing. “Joel and I applied for a foster child. We have the time, the room and the patience for a teenager, so we’re seeing four young people tonight. Joel thinks we should take a boy and a girl. We’ve been blessed Blair and we want to do something for someone that isn’t as lucky. All of these children are 12 years old. That’s a great age. Plenty of time to help them learn to love school, the thought of college and a decent job afterwards. We’re in it for the long haul.”

“How long did it take to get on their list, Mary?” 

“We got right on it. No one wants the 12 year old children. No one. Would you and Jim be interested? I think you two would be fantastic at raising a child.”

“I’ll have to talk to Jim. He’s sort of set in his ways. I don’t think he’d take well to 12 years old's mouthing off to him when they didn’t get their way,” Blair joked. 

“It’s something to discuss with him, Blair. Now, I need to get busy. I have things to do, people to see and places to go,” Mary kidded. 

“Bye, Mary. Good luck, tonight.”

“Thank you and goodbye.”

Blair got off the phone and felt so blue all of a sudden. Hannah was having a baby and Joel and Mary were fostering children soon. Blair realized he would like to do something like that too. _Well, Jim isn’t going to be interested, that’s for sure._

*

Jim was working in the bullpen, alone, hating every minute of it when the phone rang. Jim picked it up and said, “Ellison.”

“Jim, how about lunch with me today?” Steven asked. 

“That would be great. When and where?” Jim asked. The bullpen was dead that day, no pun intended. 

“Brad’s at noon?”

“Brad’s at noon would be perfect. Everything’s good, right?”

“Yes, worry wart, everything is fine. See you at noon.”

Jim hung up the phone and headed in to Simon’s office to tell him where he would be. Simon being in a really good mood told Jim to take the rest of the day off.

At 11:45, Jim left to go to Brad’s. He had the best sandwiches in town. Jim loved all of them. 

When he got there, Steven was already sitting in a booth waiting for him. He stood up and hugged his brother and then both men sat down across from each other. “I have something very serious to talk to you about.”

“Okay, hit me.”

“Let’s order first and then I’ll hit you,” Steven teased. 

The waiter came and took their drink and food order and walked off. Jim couldn’t stand the silence. “All right, tell me what’s going on.”

“Do you remember Mallory Walker from my office?”

“Of course I remember her, I knew her before you did if you recall.”

“I’m worried about two things. I overheard her tell someone on the phone that she hasn’t been with anyone in a long time. And since the rape, she didn’t know if she could ever trust anyone again. I’m thinking about asking her out, but I don’t want to lose the best assistant I’ve ever had. But being around her is torture, Jim. I’m in love and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Jim smiled and said, “Talk to her, not me. She’s the one you should tell all your worries and fears to. And if she’s not ready to date, then so be it. But by all means, talk to her first. And I can’t imagine not keeping her as your assistant even if you did decide to date. I really like her, Steven. I wish you all the luck in the world.”

“Do you think I could ask her on the phone? I get nervous when I’m in the room with her.”

“Nope, you’re going to have to talk to her in person. I promise you she’s going to say yes. She likes you. I can hear her heartbeat pick up a little when she sees you.”

“Jim, it might be for you,” Steven answered. 

Jim threw his head back and laughed. “She knows I’m gay, Steven. It’s not for me.”

“I’ll ask her as soon as I get back after lunch. In fact, you take my lunch to Simon and take yours back to work. I’ll pay for both, but I’m not hungry right now.”

Jim got Brad’s attention and called him over. “Do you think I could have both of my sandwiches to go, something came up and my brother has to leave?”

“I’ll tell your waiter to get it ready. It’s good to see you both in here. It’s been a while.”

“It’s good to see you too. We’ve been really busy, Brad,” Jim replied. 

“Do you think I could pay before I leave?” Steven asked. 

“Sure, Steven just follow me up to the counter and I’ll take care of it.”

“Bye, Jim. Sorry for bailing on you, but I need to do this while I still have the courage to ask her.”

“I don’t mind at all, Steven. Good luck. I’ll just sit here and wait for my lunches to go.”

Steven smiled all the way to the counter and paid Brad. They talked a few minutes and then Steven was off like a man on a mission. 

Jim hoped that everything would go okay between them. Jim loved Mallory and so did Blair. 

Jim called Simon and said, “Don’t get lunch, I’m bringing you something back with me from Brad’s.”

“Oh, that’s terrific. I was just getting ready to buy a Butterfinger for lunch,” Simon teased.

*

When Steven got back to the office, Mallory was eating a salad at her desk. She looked up in surprise when he walked through the door.

“Why are you back already? Is something wrong?”

“Yes, Mallory, something is very wrong. I’ve never told you that you’re the best assistant in the world, making my life so much easier and I’m sorry for that. You are, by the way. And you’re getting a big fat raise. And the second thing is I can hardly concentrate because I’ve fallen in love with you over the last 18 months. Jim suggesting I hire you then was the smartest thing I could have done. But if you aren’t ready for dating, that’s fine. I’ll understand. But if you are, I’m you’re man, Mallory.”

Mallory was all smiles and stood up. “You’re giving me a big fat raise? How big?” 

Steven was a little thrown off with this question so he figured that she wasn’t ready for him yet. “You deserve a thousand bucks extra every month, believe me.”

“My answer has nothing to do with the awesome raise. And it is awesome, Steven. You never do anything half-assed, so I’m not that surprised. I would love to go out with you. But I have to tell you that you’re the first person I’ve dated in a very long time. I’m a little damaged. You might want to think about that.”

“Mallory, we’re both damaged. I think we would be good for each other,” Steven said, hopefully. 

“In that case, I would love to go on a date. And you have to promise me that I get to keep this awesome job, even if things didn’t work out. Do you promise?” Mallory asked. 

“I promise. Now, where can I take you tonight? Name a place you’re dying to go.”

“I would love to have dinner with Jim and Blair. I really like them, they make me comfortable and I think that might be a good place to start,” Mallory suggested. 

“Could you get Blair on the line for me? I don’t have him in my speed dial.”

Mallory dialed his number and heard, “Sandburg.”

“Hold for Steven Ellison, please…”

Steven stuck his tongue out at her and laughed. “Blair, this is Steven. Mallory was being a goofball. We are going to start dating and she wondered if we could start with your house for dinner.”

Blair knew about Mallory’s background. He knew that when you’re raped, you are very cautious. He totally understood this. “What about tomorrow night, six o’clock? I’ll tell Jim about it tonight. Ask Mallory what her favorite food is, please.”

“Mallory, Blair wants to know what your favorite meal is. And he’s agreed to have us tomorrow at six. Would that work for you?”

“That would be perfect. I love filet mignon and a wonderful salad. I could provide the food, if he wants to do the work,” Mallory offered. 

Blair heard her and laughed. “Tell Mallory to be here at six tomorrow for a dinner she’ll never forget. We’ll have dancing and everything.”

“Really? That would be so awesome. Thank you, Blair. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Steven hung up the phone and smiled. “It’s official. Starting tomorrow, we’re dating.”

Mallory smiled so bright, it lit up the room, for Steven anyhow.

*

When Jim got home that night Blair was about to burst with news. Jim kissed him and said, “Okay, I can see you have something to tell me. What’s going on?”

“First of all, Hannah and Henri are getting married. They are also pregnant,” Blair said happily. 

“I knew that because I work with Henri,” Jim said with a smile. 

“Then Joel and Mary are going to foster a couple of kids, did you know that too?”

“No, I hadn’t heard that about Joel and Mary. That’s wonderful news. They’ll be great at it.” Jim pulled Blair into his arms and hugged him close. 

“Did you know that we’re having Steven and Mallory over for steak dinner tomorrow night?”

“They could go anywhere in town and they are coming here?” Jim seemed quite surprised. 

“Yes, I have a feeling that Mallory wants the first date to be with people she knows and trusts,” Blair pointed out. 

“That makes sense, Chief. That’s great. I can’t wait for them to come over. I really like Mallory and I think Steven is wild about her.”

“That’s good. Now, for the last and final thing I have to tell you, how do you feel about fostering?”

“Kids?” To say Jim was surprised was an understatement. 

“Of course, kids. Our house is huge and we could take in a couple at a time.”

“I think I would want something a little more permanent. Maybe we could look into adoption. Do you like that idea?” Jim asked as Blair jumped into Jim’s space and started kissing him. 

“I take it you like the idea, Blair.”

“I never dreamed you would go for adoption. Why now, babe?”

“Why not? We’re ready. We can give a child or children a good home and I think we would make fantastic parents. I love you, Blair.”

Blair was kissing Jim once again. “On our next day off we’ll look into it. It’s not a rush. I’m so happy that I asked you about it tonight. I almost didn’t.”

“I had planned on bringing it up once things calmed down around here. Oh by the way, Daryl stopped by the bullpen today and was disappointed that he didn’t get to see you. He brought his latest grades for his dad to see. Straight A’s for that young man. Simon is so proud of him. Oh hell, I’m proud of him too. And I know you are also. He told me he wants to have dinner with us this weekend if we have time.”

“I’ll call him on Saturday and we’ll take him out to celebrate the good news. I just love Daryl. He’s doing so well and is making Simon so proud. And how could you not love a young man that loves our old loft?” Blair teased. 

“I’m not trying to change the subject, but do I smell Italian chicken?” Jim asked. 

“You sure do and after dinner, you’re getting very, very lucky. Go wash up. Everything is ready, man.”

“Thank you for taking such good care of everything, everyone and especially me. You spoil me rotten, Chief.”

“That’s my job. Now, let’s eat…”

TBC


End file.
